


Screen Test

by LadySilver



Series: Something Called Forever [3]
Category: Forever (TV), Highlander: The Series
Genre: Chance Meetings, Collection: Fandom Stocking 2015, Crossover, Crossovers by LS, Fluff, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-08
Updated: 2016-01-08
Packaged: 2018-05-12 12:48:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 962
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5666656
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LadySilver/pseuds/LadySilver
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lucas tries to talk Methos out of his movie choice.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Screen Test

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ilien](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ilien/gifts).



> For ilien-
> 
> I heartily approve of your "Every canon is _Highlander_ crossover" headcanon, so I wrote this to help add one more to the list.

“You don't want that one, trust me,” the voice said.

“Excuse me?” Methos looked up from the DVD in his hands at the man who had been standing next to him, leafing through a different section of the alphabet, and was now tilted so far over into Methos' space that his breath fogged the plastic wrapper of the DVD. Methos constrained his instinctive reaction to grab the man and flip him to the floor, and managed to keep his body language mostly relaxed.

Oblivious to the danger he was in, the man jabbed the DVD. “Movies don't get much more terrible than this one. It's like the writer, actors, and director were all working from different information and didn't bother to talk to each other. And the special effects?!” He stopped, his head rotating, one eyebrow raising, so that he was looking at Methos with an expression that all but begged him to ask about the special effects.

With a small sigh, Methos obliged.

From the grin that lit up the man's face, Methos guessed that this interaction had become the highlight of his day.

“They're awful! Cheap!” the man pronounced, slapping a hand onto the rack of movies. The whole case rattled under the assault. “First of all, blood isn't supposed to be _purple_. Have you ever seen purple blood? Because I know I haven't, and I work in the medical examiner's office, so I've seen my fair share of blood.”

Methos had also seen a lot of blood in his life, more than a fair amount of which he'd been responsible for spilling. None of it had ever been purple. However, that wasn't enough reason to condemn a movie, especially since all he was looking for was background noise to help get him through grading the latest stack of papers.

The man hadn't stopped speaking, though. “And the staging...Look, I know the movie was made on a shoestring budget, but would it have killed them to pay a little attention to their surroundings?” He cast a conspiratorial glance around the store, as if some passing eavesdropper was going to profit from the brilliant analysis he was about to share, then said, “Did you know there were trains in Ancient Greece?”

Methos nearly dropped the movie from the sudden gout of laughter that sprung up, and which he tamped down before the noise could be read as encouragement. “I think I would have remembered that,” he answered, dryly.

As if this guy needed any encouragement. “Seriously,” he continued. “If you look at the soldiers' shields during the epic battle scene at the end, you can clearly see the reflection of a train going by off camera. The dialogue is even worse. It's all 'You can't stop my evil plan' and “I am the end of time!' Who talks like that?” He stepped away then, giving Methos his first chance to see him in something other than a close-up. 

He looked about the same age Methos did, a black windbreaker hanging open to show the blue scrubs he wore—lending credence to his assertion about working in the ME's office. A place that Methos now vowed to have nothing to do with, if this was the kind of person they hired. The name tag that flapped from his pocket identified him as Lucas. It was good to have a name; that would make it easier to avoid him in the future, especially if it turned out that he couldn't avoid the ME's office.

Lucas still wasn't done talking, though. He'd only paused while he shuffled through a different row of DVDs before selecting the one he'd wanted and sliding it across to Methos. “Now this one,” he said, “is a true classic. A masterpiece!” He didn't kiss his fingertips like a cinema virtuoso, but he might as well have.

Methos glanced at the title and dismissed it with a shrug. “Saw it in the cinema. It was OK.”

“OK? OK?!” Lucas sounded like he was winding up to defend his honor against Methos' attack, then abruptly narrowed his eyes and parked a hand on his hip when another thought came to him. “You saw this on the big screen? Like in a theater that does retro-screenings? Because if you know where one of those is around here, you can't keep that a secret.”

“Sorry,” Methos said, scrambling to cover up his slip; he wasn't usually so careless. “It was...back home.” On moving to New York, he hadn't bothered to leave his English accent behind; it had become too familiar, too comfortable, and he liked the leeway that speaking with it gave him while he learned the nuances of East Coast American culture. A time like this, when he'd all but admitted to seeing a film during its original 1968 run, was one of those leeways. At least he didn't have to worry about this slip coming back to him, since the odds of ever seeing this person again were slim. None, if he had his way. He pushed Lucas's suggested movie aside and tapped his own selection on the side of the display. “I think I'll stick with this one. Historical errors keep me amused, and I could use a few good laughs tonight.” Sometimes a good laugh was all that kept him from flunking every paper that came under his pen.

Lucas looked at him, appalled. “I can make other suggestions!” he said. “I can--” He started to scrabble back in the display rack, then gave up when he caught on that Methos wasn't going to stay and talk to him. “That's two hours of your life you're never going to get back!” he yelled.

Methos waved the movie at him as he walked away. “I can spare it.”


End file.
